New Offshore Construction Vessel Arrested in Singapore

A new deepwater construction vessel formerly owned by Sea Trucks Group has been arrested in Singapore over a dispute with a local shipyard.

The vessel arrested is the DP3 pipelay construction vessel Jascon 18.

In response to media reports, Sea Trucks Group issued a statement saying that it sold the Jascon 18 to new independent owners back in March 2015, when the vessel was still under construction in Singapore. The new owners then engaged Sea Trucks to complete the construction, the company said.

The Jascon 18 was built by the Singaporean shipyard Kwong Soon with delivery scheduled for Q3 2015.

In their statement, Sea Trucks said the shipyard had worked on construction of the Jason 18 until November 2015, at which point the vessel sailed following completion of the yard’s work.

“Sea Trucks considers the arrest to be without merit, having arisen out of a dispute between a Group subsidiary company and the shipyard,” the statement said. “Sea Trucks is providing the vessel’s owners with its full support in seeking the vessel’s prompt release.

“Sea Trucks will remain in close dialogue with its subcontractors to ensure the final completion works can be carried out on the vessel as soon as possible. This arrest in no way affects Sea Trucks’ ability to pay contractors.”

Sea Trucks Group is an international oil and gas marine contractor with operations primarily in West Africa. In September 2014, the was able to secure a $130 million facility to finance the completion of the Jascon 18 at Kwong Soon Engineering.